Rewards from the 206 Break (And Some 206 News)

How long has it been since I last posted? A few weeks? A month? Where does the time go? I’ll tell you where… school and football. I’ve never been so overwhelmed before. It’s my senior year, man, give me a break! Soon college searching will go full throttle and my free time/baseball card time will disappear faster than Dakota Fanning’s career. I’ll try to pick up the pace on the blog and trading with other bloggers (I still owe cards to two very patient people… I am waiting for the lazy owner of my LCS to open so I can go get some good cards for you guys), but if you see long stretches of absence, you know why.

Now, enough of that crap. Paul from the great Carl Crawford Cards held his monthly group break… 2010 Topps 206. Or 2010 Topps T-206. Beckett has it officially listed as 206, and the box itself says 206, but everywhere else is T-206. I so confused! Regardless of what the name is, I jumped into the break with two slots, the Yanks and Royals. I came out with a lot of good stuff, would you like to see?


A whole stack of base, highlighted by these guys.
Some Core Four Bronze.
A sweet A-Rod SP.
Those oh-so-awesome minis.The first row is American Caramel, the second row is Polar Bear, the third row is Piedmont, and the Nick Johnson is Old Mill.

And these two hits. Damn, I love framed hits.

And Paul was kind enough to send a ton of Red Sox! Wasn’t that nice of him? You sick, sick man.


Now, I’m caught in a dilemma. I love the set. I love the texture of the cards, the framed relics and autos, the mini-inserts, and the bronze parallel. Problem is how should I go and collect the set? I would prefer to crack a box or two of this stuff over trading for it, that way I can knock out a ton of the checklist and get some hits to boot. Cash is tight though… I’m not working until football season ends (Thanksgiving). I obviously can’t afford two boxes. If any bloggers out there have some spare 2010 Topps 206s, please, please, please contact me. I’ll take anything from relics to base cards of Brandon Inge. The only cards I have are Yankees, Royals, and Red Sox base, a good chunk of bronze Yanks and some bronze Royals/Red Sox, and all the minis and relics mentioned above. I have a redemption for a Jeff Francis auto coming in along with a healthy cut of Mini Historical Event inserts from the bay. Any help would be appreciated!

Will check back in soon with a box break I did a while ago. We’re pushing two weeks for me to scan in the cards. Yeesh.

Community Trade

The best part about a blogger busting a product you’ve never purchased? Trading for your favorite team’s cards so you don’t have to get them somewhere else. Smart thinking right? Community Gum opened a box of 2005 Leaf and pulled some cool Yanks. What does this mean class? Yes, they’re mine!


2005 Leaf #133: Alex Rodriguez

2005 Leaf Gold Stars #4: Alex Rodriguez

2005 Leaf Sportscasters 65 White Batting-Ball #11: Don Mattingly (Numbered to 65)

Thanks to Jon over at the great Community Gum for the cards. If you have any spare Greg Maddux, Ryan Dempster, or Cubs cards, he’ll gladly take them.

Midnight Trading with Night Owl

I’ll spare everyone with a “lack of posts” entry and just go right to the good stuff.

It’s always a pleasure opening a package from one of the greats in the blogosphere, and ripping open the yellow package sent from Night Owl was no exception. He is, to be frank, one of the best out there. His posts are full of detail, scans, insight, and humor, the makings of a four-tool blogger. And plus, he’s a Bills fan like myself. I didn’t think we existed anymore.

Anywho, the wise Owl is currently collecting 1975 Topps minis, and it just so happened that I had a few lying around. In exchange for these minis and an assortment of Dodgers, Night Owl sent me, what else, Yanks and set needs. Let’s dig in.


2009 O-Pee-Chee #68: Phil Hughes I’ve seen O-Pee-Chee highlighted numerous times on various blogs, but much like Allen & Ginter, I’ve never collected it. I really like the feel and look to the 2009 set, despite the fact that half of Phil Hughes’s face is covered in shadow, and I may look further into obtaining the set.

1992 Bowman #124: Brien Taylor Oh, this is just cruel.

1996 Denny’s Holograms #14: Wade Boggs This would have been a fun little oddball set to if it wasn’t required to go to Denny’s 20+ times.

2008 Upper Deck Yankee Stadium Legacy Collection #5344: Kevin Maas You know things were bad for the Yankees in the early 90s when Kevin Maas was a prominent player.

Night Owl topped off the package with a whole slew of Yanks and 1980 Topps, highlighted by these guys.

Thanks Greg for the awesome trade!

And you can blame high school football for the lack of posts. Two a-days aren’t fun.

A Pleasant Prize from Wicked Ortega

The all great Wicked Ortega was giving away a lot of great stuff recently over on his blog My Past Time… I Love It! Wicked, with an extensive autograph and memorabilia collection, had a spare Dan Uggla autographed photo to give away in a contest. It just so happens that I won said contest and received my prize a few days ago.

Nice picture, nice signature. Thanks to Wicked for the awesome prize!

Rookie Card Challenge Winner! (Along with Some Other News)

Things were crazy at the shore. Family, parties, and very good lookin’ badge checkers dominated the trip and while it was fun, I’m glad to be back home. And glad to be back into baseball cards, although I want resume trading and posting until Monday when my summer assignment for school is due (yeah, that sucks).

However, there is still a lot to catch up on. For one, the Rookie Card Challenge officially ended August 1. This was my first contest in the blogosphere and I think it went successfully. I met a lot of new people and discovered a lot of new blogs, and For Card’s Sake saw much exposure from the contest. I’d like to thank everyone that participated in the challenge... you guys are awesome!

Now originally I said I would pick the winner based on what I thought was the best entry. Realizing how biased and unfair that sounds, I decided to go the old fashioned way… randomizing.





Congratulations to SpastikMooss of the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame for winning the first ever contest on For Card's Sake! Please email me for your address and what you collect so I can send you something nice. Thanks again to everybody that participated and in the future if I trade with anyone that took a part in the challenge, I’ll throw in some nice stuff as a thanks for being involved.

Whew. So that’s done. What else is there to do? Oh, right, trading. I want to make an emphasis on trying to turn more trades with my fellow bloggers. I tried some trading on Beckett and while all my experiences were fine, a lot of complaints have been going on about people not sending their end of the bargain, slow shipping, or damaged cards. I can’t deal with that crap. There are a few people I’ll probably trade with again through the site, but for the most part my trading will be with bloggers. I have a lot of doubles of cards of all teams, so I’ll get my face out there and start trading with many more people.

The budget will be shifted around as well. I’ve grown interested in a few more things besides baseball cards. I’m hoping to get season tickets for the Nets this year (for the record, I am a Sixers fan, but traveling to Newark from where I live is much easier than going to Philly) along with enhancing my DVD collection and adding more memorabilia to the mancave. Baseball cards are going to have to take a back seat for a little bit.

However, I will devote every penny of my baseball card money to one set, and one set only. It’s a new challenge… not to the bloggers, but to myself. More details coming up on the most ultimate task I’ll try to accomplish. Stay tuned.

There It Goes...

SEE YA!

Rookie Card Challenge Extension/Update/Conclusion/[Insert Your Noun Here]

I awoke this morning realizing that the Rookie Card Challenge deadline was yesterday. Oops. To give everyone one more fair chance of entering, I’ve extending the contest to today, August 1. Whatever entries are posted in by tonight at 11:59 P.M. are eligible to win and whatever entries aren’t… tough luck, cause you had about four months to enter. Follow the link for more details on the contest.

Also, I am going down the shore for a week and won’t be back until next Saturday. All trading and what-not will resume on the Monday after I return. Yes, yell and hiss at me for taking yet another vacation, but hey, I need a nice tan just like everyone else (and I wanna hook up with Snooki).

I’ll drop in with a snarky post here and there, but for the most part, enjoy this picture.

"Tales from the Dugout" #2: Don Mossi

Continuing on with the “Tales from the Dugout” series, here is a tale about the legendary (looking) pitcher Don Mossi. Enjoy!
Don Mossi is one of those players that fans of the baby boomer generation remember most fondly. Mossi was a pretty good left-handed pitcher who compiled a 101-80 lifetime record over 12 seasons, mostly with the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers, but it wasn’t his record that endeared him to us. It was his face. An angular face made unforgettable by bushy eyebrows, a perpetual five-o’clock shadow, and a pair of ears that seemed attached to the sides of his head like the handles of a loving cup trophy.

Although Mossi had no Cincinnati connection, he became in the mid-1970s the focal point of a huge, long-running Cincinnati Hot Stove League baseball party hosted by two Cincinnati Reds front-office employees, Tom Jackson and Doug Bureman. Here is Jackson’s account of how Mossi’s cult status in Cincinnati came to be.

“The whole thing started in November of 1974. Doug and I were young bachelors in our late twenties at the time, and we tried to party every chance we got. We were sitting around one day looking at some baseball cards tat were on the coffee table, and a card of Don Mossi just stood out from all the rest. We saw that his birthday is January 11, so we figured why not have a birthday party on that day in Don’s honor? It turned out that the coming January 11 fell on a Saturday, so it worked out perfectly.

“We had the party at Doug’s split-level town house, and about 80 people showed up. Some of the girls made a cake that accentuated Don’s most prominent facial features, his ears, and at the height of the evening’s festivities we called Don at his home in Ukiah, California, to wish him happy birthday. At first he didn’t believe we were having a party in his honor, but we told him it was for real. It turned out to be a pretty crazy party, and it just took off from there. We wound up having our Don Mossi party for 12 straight years, and from the second year on we moved the party to a rental hall. The attendance peaked at over 340 people a year, two years in a row.

“The whole thing got to be pretty elaborate. We printed up admission tickets, made up T-shirts that we sold at cost- one showed Don in a cowboy outfit and said, ‘Mossi’s Posse’- and one year we even had a Don Mossi ice sculpture. We charged people three or four bucks to get in to help pay for the ‘all-you-can-drink’ beer we served, and each year the highlight of the evening was the long-distance phone call to Don. We gave out door prizes, and the best prize, which three people won each year, was the privilege of talking to Don for one minute.

“The party started out mocking Mossi, but as it went on year after year he became a hero, sort of a folk hero. We found out that he is a very decent guy, a real dedicated family man. Eleven out of the 12 years we called him to wish him happy birthday, he was at home, just sitting around the house with his wife and two daughters. He’s never been to another major league baseball game since he retired, even though he lives only a hundred miles north of San Francisco. He likes to hunt and fish, and he works as a supervisor in a Masonite factory. Don’s also a very, very quiet guy. He never says much at all. I actually visited him at his house in 1979. In the 20-minute conversation I had with him, I must have all the talking for 18 minutes, and I’m a terrible conversationalist.

“In Don we picked the perfect guy for our party without knowing it beforehand. A lot of guys would have gotten mad and blown us off, but to Don it was no big deal. He even sent us stuff for our Don Mossi Museum, which was on display at the party each year. He sent us game-worn caps from all four major league teams he played for, some Don Mossi photos, an autographed baseball, and an instructional pitching film he ‘starred in.’ The film was woefully outdated- it just showed Don throwing off a mound for five minutes or so- but we showed it each year, and people went wild. Since we worked in baseball, we were able to obtain some legitimate Don Mossi items ourselves from the Indians and Tigers, but we also had some gag items in the Mossi Museum: Don’s World Series ring- a cigar band- and his scrapbook, which was completely empty.

“One Don Mossi occurrence I’ll never forget involved a guy named Brian Hunterman, who came to Cincinnati in 1979 to work for the Reds. Brian had no previous contact with any of us nor any previous clue about the party, yet when someone told him about the party and asked him if he wanted to go, he reached into his back pocket for his wallet and then pulled a Don Mossi baseball card out of it- providing that Don was a legend independent of our party. Needless to say, Brian became a regular at the parties.

“The twelfth party was our last. It was a heck of a lot of work to put on, and we got a little tired of it. We rationalized that it was appropriate to stop after 12 years because 12 years was the length of Don’s major league career. We had wanted to fly Don in for an appearance at a party, but we could never convince him to come. He was just too modest to do it. Our only regret was that Don never came to Cincinnati to meet his adoring public. Other than that, our Don Mossi parties were nothing but a whole lot of laughs.”

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

When I woke up this morning (alright, afternoon), I never expected to win a contest. However, when I checked My Past Time… I Love It! to read his latest post, it turns out that I did win a contest. The generous and wondrous Wicked Ortega was giving away an autographed Dan Uggla picture to the person that correctly guessed the number that would be pulled out of a hat. I guessed 68 because that’s my football number (and the number of times I’ve been rejected to homecoming in the past 3 years, but who’s counting?). Turns out the number pulled was 71 so the Uggla picture is mine! Thanks to Wicked Ortega for the great prizes. He’s not done however; check out My Past Time… for more contests and chances to win cool prizes. I probably won’t enter again except for the two Yankees autographed photos that look extremely nice.

Now onto another contest. The final days of the Rookie Card Challenge are approaching. So far we got some nice entries and there’s still time to include more. Clink on the link for more details. The winner will receive some nice stuff to add to their collections, so definitely think about entering. The last day for entry is the last day in July 31. Good luck!

Cards Grande from Nachos Grande

Recibí un montón pesado de tarjetas de Chris sobre en Grande de Nachos. Permítanos la zambullida en y vea lo que el buen hombre envió.


2008 Topps Allen y Ginter #56: Chien-Ming Wang El único UN & G que me hará feliz es Yankees UN & G. Todavía necesidad Tira más de los 2006-2009 conjuntos.

2010 Topps Allen y Ginter #113: Billy Butler La tarjeta final que necesité para el completo 2010 Allen y Ginter Royals equipo. Esto puede ser la última vez que toco UN & G un rato.

Chris mandó a algunos Yankees del 2008 conjunto de Goudey. Yo todavía necesito el resto de los Yankess de este conjunto, tan si usted los tiene que sabe donde enviarlos.

Gracias a Chris del Grande de Nachos para el lío agradable de Tirones y desea. ¡Vea ya perras posteriores!

I Can't Think of a Title for This Post

2005 Donruss Greats isn’t considered a “fan favorite set”, but there can be a strong case made to call it such. The checklist has an abundance of Hall-of-Famers such as Roberto Clemente, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, and Willie Mays and a heavy chunk of modern players such as Alex Rodriguez, Jason Bay, Ichiro Suzuki, and Chipper Jones. So why am I calling it a fan favorite set? The rest of the checklist includes names such as Terry Pendleton, Minnie Minoso, Dwight Evans, Tony Oliva, and Marty Marion. To the average major league fan… who the hell are they? But to Braves fans, Twins fans, and White Sox fans, they were solid players that didn’t dominate the headlines but put their team in a good position to win a ballgame every night. They often have a charming and pleasurable personality to go along with their talents, a very rare combination in sports. These players are often regarded as “fan favorites”. For Yankees fans, Nick Swisher is considered a fan favorite because despite having to play in the shadow of Jeter and A-Rod, he puts up good numbers while retaining his great personality to the fans. What team wouldn’t want that?

Fan favorite sets are usually quite popular among the hobby. Collectors get a chance to pick up a card (or an autograph/relic) of a favorite player that sometimes wouldn’t be featured in a regular set. And for people who (gasp) sell their cards, there’s always a market for them. 2005 Donruss Greats gave us another great aspect of fan favorite sets; autographed cards of these players we love! Good Lord, I miss Donruss.

So when this baby popped up on the Bay, I knew it had to be in my possession.

Donruss Greats Signature Gold HoloFoil #35: Harold Reynolds The inscription had me skeptical at first, all the other autographed cards of Reynolds had nothing but his signature. However, the seller pointed me out to a few other auctions that had autographed cards of Bobby Doerr and Kent Hrbek with inscriptions.

Harold Reynolds was a solid second baseman for the Seattle Mariners. He led the league in stolen bases in 1987 (which the inscription indicates) and won three Gold Gloves for his superb defense. However, many know him now as an analyst and commentator for MLB Network, and a previous analyst for ESPN Baseball Tonight. He was fired from the network because of an alleged sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a female co-worker. A whole mess ensued with the ordeal; Reynolds claims it was a misunderstood and sued ESPN for money owed to him for his contract and for the network failing to keep the matter “behind the scenes”. Reynolds’ “departure”, in my opinon, led to the downfall of Baseball Tonight as an entertaining and informative broadcast to a joke of a show (much like the entire ESPN network). Reynolds was by the far the best commentator on the program and always outshined his peers (although it’s not too hard to outshine John Kruk). I’m glad he’s back on the tube with MLB Network where he can display his great baseball mind.

Wow, that was a long rant. I just wanted to show you guys the card. My bad.

This...

... is why people should be worried about security at the National.

Larry Walker's Rear

Card backs. The most overlooked and underrated aspect of a baseball card. A well-designed and thought out back can make or break a card. And while some people chose to ignore it, others embrace it (see Owl, Night). I fall under the latter category.

Mark of Stats on the Back was giving away cards, literally. He sent me a huge stack of Larry Walkers, and its some good stuff. I’ve always liked Larry Walker; he was an incredible athlete. He could hit for a high average, blast 30+ homers, steal 15+ bases, and give you great defense in the outfield. He should get some consideration for the Hall of Fame… but the chances of him making it are as slim as Kate Moss. You never know, the writers have screwed up before. Instead of boring you with the front of the card, why not keep with the theme of card backs? Let’s check out the rear of the card and read the unintentionally hilarious blurbs.


1993 Triple Play #42
Some interesting information I can pile away and save for a rainy day. I’m chop-full of useless trivia for celebrities. Did you know Coolio is an avid snow globe collector?

1997 Topps #461
“During a team slump, he offered cash rewards to them… ranging from $20 for every hit and $200 for complete games.” If I were a pitcher on that squad, I sure as hell would give it my all every night.

Let’s take a break and examine two card fronts, shall we?

1994 Pinnacle #310
1994 Score #376 I’m convinced these two pictures were literally taken the same play. The ‘94 Pinnacle has Larry tracking the ball and the ‘94 Score has him waiting under it. Look at the similarities. Both cards are from the same year and from the same company. Larry has the same angle, not to mention the same sunglasses and same wristband. And do you see the light blue mark on the wall? And I thought Topps was lazy.

1992 Studio #59
Studio is always known to include interesting (a.k.a. useless) tidbits about players. So reading that Larry’s favorite movie was Ghost and that he would most like to meet Mariah Carey kinda confused me. This is a burly Canadian for God sakes… he should never be near a Patrick Swayze film or a Mariah Carey album. Oh, dear Larry.

1993 Studio #123
“Might have been a lumberjack if he hadn’t been an athlete.” Okay, I still laugh when I read this. I can’t picture Larry Walker as a lumberjack, despite having the build and look for it. Try picturing it, it’s harder than it looks. Does anyone else think Larry’s face creeping in is sort of disturbing?

1997 Topps #221Check the list. Besides Piazza, how many of those players have been linked to steroids? And those are some ridiculous numbers.

A big thanks to Mark once again for the generous pile of Larrys. You can never have too much Larry Walker, even if his favorite movie is Ghost. (By the way, if the title of this post attracted you to read, you are a sick man.)

Did Somebody Say...

...eBay purchases?


2008 Upper Deck Heroes Emerald #3: Chris Young (Numbered to 499)

2004 Fleer Tradition Diamond Tributes Game Jersey RH: Roy Halladay

2009 UD A Piece of History Stadium Scenes Jersey Red SSRH: Roy Halladay (Numbered to 180)

A Confession

May I make a confession? I have yet to purchase a pack of 2010 Allen & Ginter. May I make another? I don’t think I’ve purchased a pack of Allen & Ginter from any year. Yes, I know that may make me a loser in the hobby, but it’s true. To be honest, I’ve never been interested in the product, and I find it extremely overrated. The cards look and feel nice year in and year out, but other than that there is really nothing else to justify putting down big dough on boxes of Allen & Ginter. The design is the same every single year. The minis are annoying. Cards of dinosaurs and Greek mythology should never, ever be included in my packs of baseball cards. The obscure and insignificant “celebrities” take up valuable space in binders. The relic and autograph checklist is a joke. The multiple variations are a pain in the ass. I may be pessimistic, but that’s because I’ve listened to too many optimistic people.

Now, just because I refuse to put down $90+ on a box of this overrated product, I won’t mind spending some change on group breaks where I can pick up some Yanks. However, I don’t mind picking up a few Royals now and then, which is exactly what I did in Carl Crawford Cards’s monthly group break. I love participating in Paul’s breaks; the prices are great and he’s just a swell guy. Great communicator, fast shipper, and overall a great guy in the hobby. Thanks man!

Here are all the Royals pulled from the 5 boxes busted. I got the entire team set, along with inserts, except for one card… Billy Butler. Go figure. I have four copies of Joakim Soria, and no Butler base. Crazy. As hinted before, there are a lot of dupes in the stack, so let me know if you need some of these cards. The Spinosaurus and the Helio minis, along with the “celebrities” no one cares about, are up for trade as well.

Betancourt is an SP.


Zack Greinke is the A and G Back variation.

R.I.P. George Steinbrenner

The Boss. He did whatever it took to win, and did he win. There wasn’t an owner like him before, nor will there be an owner like him after. Thanks, George, for everything you've done for the Yankees and the city of New York. You'll never be forgotten.

A Lacking Collection

My Halladay collection was lacking. Until I saw how my A-Rod collection had been shaping up recently. It’s in a dismal state, no new additions except for base cards since 2009! And then I realized what else was lacking from my collection… game used cards! I changed that quickly.

2002 Topps Chrome 5-Card Stud Jack of all Trades Relics 5JAR: Alex Rodriguez This beauty has quickly become one of my favorite cards. It looks fantastic in person. Nice chunk of bat, nice shine, and a fun design. I like it.

2002 Upper Deck Diamond Connection Bat Around Quads TROJ: Jim Thome/Alex Rodriguez/Magglio Ordonez/David Justice Jim Thome, one of the most likable sluggers to ever play the game and a future Hall of Famer. Alex Rodriguez, one of the greatest hitters and all around players in the history of baseball. Magglio Ordonez, perennial playoff hitter and anchor in a potent Detroit Tigers lineup. David Justice… uh, gosh… um… oh boy… uh… it’s a nice card.

1994 Upper Deck Electric Diamond #24: Alex Rodriguez Another false advertising card. If its not his rookie card, don’t put “star rookie” on the front dammit! Regardless, it’s a sexy-lookin’ card.


All these bad mofos are courtesy of capncush, who has an extensive Photobucket album filled with his PCs and cards for trade. While these cards kick ass, I still need more to add to the A-Rod collection. Thank God no one likes A-Rod, so it should be easy to find and trade for his stuff. Peace y’all!

One Lonely Ticket Stub

Bad Wax needs ticket stubs. Now!
And no, I didn’t go to this game; I was much too young. My father got these tickets through business and went with a few of his friends from work. They broke the sacred rule of leaving the game early and missed the big comeback in the 9th inning and Scott Brosius’s walk-off homer in the 12th. He was definitely kicking himself the next morning. (On another note; they don’t have Brosius’s walk off homer on Youtube? Or any clip from Game 5 on Youtube? This must be changed!)

Those three games in New York were possibly the most important games in Yankee history. The team from the Bronx brought the spirit back to New York by coming back to win two night in a row and lifted a broken city that was decimated by everything from terrorist attacks to anthrax scares. It’s a shame they didn’t win the series and I’ve been a D-Back hater ever since. And for all the Arizona fans that are still bragging about their victory, let’s recap at what the team has done since the 2001 World Series.

The Diamondbacks have had four winning season since 2001 and haven’t advanced past the NLCS since their World Series victory. Their front office is in shambles. They’re ranked 18th in attendance. Their best pitcher is Ian Kennedy. Tell me who got the better end of the deal.